JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dollar General is preparing to reopen the store in Jacksonville where three Black people lost their lives to a racist shooter last August.
The families of Angela Carr, AJ Laguerre Jr. and Jerrald Gallion are still mourning and embroiled in a lawsuit with the company.
Adam Finkel with the Haggard Law Firm said the opening is horrible news for these families.
He said Dollar General didn't tell them about it and hasn't reached out at all since the shooting four and a half months ago.
Additionally, Finkel said the company hasn't taken steps to add security measures for customers and employees.
"This Dollar General was not maintained in any way, shape or form the way it should have been,” Finkel said, “and all they've really done here is they gutted the store in order to clean up the blood, and after gutting the store to clean up the blood, now what they're doing is putting a fresh coat of paint on there, but they haven't changed anything."
The families are suing the company for not having a security guard on site. They believe that would have deterred the shooter, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter of Orange Park.
Finkel said the families are aware of the store's presence and what it represents.
"They should have come home that day from the store, and they didn't because of this company's negligence,” Finkel said. “This company Dollar General knew that this store needed to be secured and knew it was dangerous, and they did nothing about it."